Aerosol valve assembly



July 4, 1961 J BRiEcHLE 2,991,044

AEROSOL VALVE ASSEMBLY Filed April 29, 1959 INVENTOR JOSEPH BRIECHLE ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 4, 1961 Manufacturing Compan Water-bu Conn. 21 c 0- ration of Connecticut y, m

Filed Apr. 29, 1959, SenNo. 809,713 3 Claims. (Cl. 251-353) The present invention relates to an aerosol dispensing valve assembly for use with and forming part of a socalled aerosol bomb.

So-called aerosol bombs are now extensively used to discharge, in the form of an aerosol spray, insecticides, fungicides, deodorants and the like and also to discharge in the form of viscous foam, shaving creams, tooth pastes and the like. Aerosol bombs usually consist of a container having therein a solution or a suspension of the substances to be discharged together with a propellent, which is gaseous at room temperature, and a valve assembly for controlling the discharge of the substances with the propellent from the container. Inasmuch as such bombs are used by the general public they are not intended to be refilled but rather to be discarded after the contents thereof have been discharged. The valve assembly of such bombs must be well engineered and accurately made to function properly and because of this has constituted a substantial part of the cost of the bomb.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an exceedingly simple and efficient aerosol dispensing valve assembly which can be manufactured and sold at a lower price than other valve assemblies intended for the same purpose.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, not specifically enumerated, are accomplished by forming the valve element of the assembly from a piece of tubing of J-shape form having arms of different lengths and utilizing the open end of the short arm of the J-shaped tube to provide a seal with a gasket andthe longer arm as the operating and discharge arm for the valve.

The invention will be understood from the detailed description which follows when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a diametrical sectional view of an aerosol dispensing valve assembly embodying my invention and;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing, the aerosol dispensing valve assembly may be said to consist of a tubular housing having a chamber 11, an elastic sealing washer 12, a valve member 13, a spring 14, and a container closure member 15.

The housing 10 may be formed of any suitable material, such as synthetic resin, that is inert to substances intended to be discharged from a bomb and may be said to consist of an upper portion 10a of generally elliptical form in transverse cross-section, an intermediate portion 10b and a lower portion or projecting nipple 100.

The portion 10a at its free or upper end is formed with a peripheral flange 16 having chamfered edges 16a and 16b, said flange being eccentric to the generally elliptical portion 10a and preferably concentric with the nipple portion 100. Between the connecting bores through the portions 10a and 10b there is formed a shoulder 10d and between the bores through the portions 10b and 100 there is formed a shoulder 10s, the shoulder 10d providing a limiting stop for the valve member 13 and the shoulder 10c providing a bearing for the spring 14.

The sealing washer 12 is preferably flat and may be formed of any elastic material which is not adversely affected by the substances intended to be discharged from the bomb and has a normal outer diameter slightly less than the diameter of the flange 16 on the housing and has a central opening 17.

The valve member 13 is J-shaped and may be formed from an open ended cylindrical tube, which has been bent intermediate its ends to provide a bight portion from which extends one arm 13a longer than the other arm 13b with the axes of said arms substantially parallel and lying in a common plane. The arm 13a extends upwardly through and is slidable in the opening 17 in the washer 12 with a leak-tight fit and the open end of the short arm 13b is biased into engagement with the inner face of the washer by the spring 14. The valve member 13 is guided in its movements in the chamber 11 by engaging in opposed longitudinally extending substantially semi-circular channels 107 and 10g, the radii of which substantially correspond to the radius of the tube 13.

The container closure member 15 is of cup shaped form, has a central re-entrant tubular part 19 and an outer peripheral bead or flange 20. The tubular part 19 embraces the periphery of the sealing washer 12 and the periphery of the flange 16 and has its free end formed as a flat flange 21 overlying the sealing washer and terminating in closely spaced relation to the long arm 13a of the valve member. The inner end of said tubular part 19 is beaded over the flange 16 to hold the washer and the housing in fluid tight engagement. The outer peripheral head 20 is lined with a sealing compound 22 and is adapted to be bead-seamed to a container (not shown) in a conventional manner.

Frictiona'lly mounted on the outer end of the long arm 13a of the valve member to be movable therewith, is an operating cap or button 23 of any desired form having a discharge orifice 24 in open communication with the bore of the arm 13a.

The dispensing valve assembly is assembled by first inserting the long arm 13a of the J-shaped tubular valve member through the opening in the sealing washer, then inserting the spring 14 and said pre-assembled valve member into the chamber 11 with the Washer overlying the top of the housing after which the container closure member 15 is positioned with its flange 21 in overlying re lation to the sealing washer 12 to move it into engagement with the top of the housing 10 after which the reentrant tubular part 19 of the closure member is headed over the chamfered edge 16b of flange 16 to hold the parts in assembled relation as shown in FIG. 1. When the as sembly is ready to be seamed or attached to a container which has been charged with the desired quantity of solution or suspension intended to be discharged from the bomb'a dip tube (not shown) is attached to the nipple 10c.

It can be readily visualized from the foregoing description and drawing that when manual pressure is applied to the cap or button 23 against the force of the spring 14, the open end of the short arm 13b of the valve will be unseated from its sealing engagement with the washer 12 to permit the pressurized contents of a bomb which would normal-1y fill the chamber 11 to pass through tubular arms of the J-shaped valve member 13 into the cap and out through the discharge orifice 24 therein.

Although there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that changes in details of construction and form of parts may be made within the range of mechanical skill without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. An aerosol dispensing valve assembly, comprising a tubular housing having a valve chamber, an elastic sealing washer seating on top of the housing, a container closure member having a central tubular part embracing the periphery of the washer and the periphery of the housing at the top thereof and holding said parts in fluid-tight engagement, a J-shaped open-ended tubular valve member in said chamber with the bight of the J innermost, the arms of said J-shaped member being substantially parallel and of unequal length With the long arm extending outwardly through and slidable in an opening in the washer with a fluid-tight fit, a spring in the valve chamber normally biasing the valve member outwardly to seat the open end of the short arm into sealing engagement with the Washer eccentrically to the axis of the long arm, and the container closure member having a flange overlying the seating position of the short arm on the Washer and terminating in encircling relation to the long arm.

2. An aerosol dispensing valve assembly according to claim 1, wherein the valve chamber in the housing is shaped to slidably cooperate with the arms of the valve member to provide guides therefor during movement thereof.

3. An aerosol dispensing valve assembly according to claim 2, wherein the chamber of the housing within which the valve is movable is formed with opposed longitudinally extending channels within which the arms of the valve member are guided.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,709,111 Green May 24, 1955 2,881,808 St. Germain Apr. 14, 1959 2,913,154 Kuffer Nov. 17, 1959 

